Originally Posted by speckledgold
Reading all of these threads about Macon is shocking. These wildly exaggerated negative comments are seriously ridiculous.
Macon is a beautiful city, and getting better each day. There is plenty to do, and I have never felt unsafe. Yes, there is crime, and yes, there is poverty - but these are unescapable on this planet if you live near other human beings, period. Macon is not particularly bad, and those suggesting surrounding cities reputed to be "safer" owe that safety to their comparatively diminuitive size - naturally. Thus far, I have lived in Atlanta, Gwinnett County, Macon, New Orleans (post Katrina), Miami, and Osaka (Japan) - there have been plenty of times I have felt uneasy or unsafe in my life, but never once in Macon.
Downtown is my favorite part of Macon. Especially the Macon Arts Exchange, but also the restaraunts, highly pedestrian friendly streets, harmless homeless folks and the nightlife. Macon is simultaneously a quiet city and one boasting a plethora of activities, events and festivals. The local women's college has begun offering a monthly local produce market, the local downtown bookstore has weekly free performances by local artists, the downtown location of Joshua Cup also offers live music regularly, and most people have heard of the festivities associated with First Fridays, when people who may not otherwise associate with each other coexist and socialize peacebly (for those in fear of crime, police presence is very pronounced for your safety during first Fridays downtown).
The Macon Mall, in comparison to the Mall of Georgia near where I used to live is smaller and not as clean - but that is hardly a fair comparison. Malls are malls, attract youth, and are inherently problem ridden. The nearest mall to my summer home in New Orleans doesn't allow those under the age of 16 in after 7pm because of how serious the problems were here. Macon is not exceptional, nor terribly afflicted with this problem. I have heard that it becomes unsafe at night, corresponding to hours when the mall is CLOSED. Unless you are in the habit of going to the mall during non-operating hours than you should not have a problem there. And for the faint-of-heart, there is a new outdoor Mall off of Riverside full of a more generic upper-middle class suburban shopping experience. This is one of the things I love about Macon - it has all of your bases covered! Sometimes I want to go to Goodwill or Macon Rescue Mission, but I admit there are times that I just want something from Victoria's Secret or Kohls.
As for the comparison of Macon to Warner Robbins, I suppose if you are a WASP wanting to raise children, Warner Robbins is a good option because it is still close enough to Macon that you can get there for your cultural and entertainment needs. But honestly, I cannot imagine wanting to live there, not because of the sonic booms due to the military presence, but because Warner Robins is an incredibly generic and uniteresting place. When raising children, I can definitely see the appeal of that, and the security such a place lends, but for the other 60 to 80 years of your life, I cannot imagine suffering it.
I currently live on the northern edge of Macon, but I would prefer to live downtown. Downtown is beautiful - Macon has a lot to offer. Certainly, like any other place with so many people, it has its share of problems. But I feel that moving away from places simply because they are not perfect causes them to deteriorate even further. It is good people that make a place good - and I encourage any of you good people to visit or relocate to Macon to capitalize on what it has to offer, and contribute a little more "good" to the world otherwise full of such horrid violence, prejudice and anger. I'll see you around, in Macon!
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